2017-11-27

MOC: The Champion of the Plains


This build is, once again, a relatively fast departure from larger ongoing projects. I haven't built constraction-heavy MOCs for some time - the mechanical dragon was quite close with its limbs, tail and neck, but relied still largely on SYSTEM with its defining features. This polearm warrior is more than 60% Bionicle and etc. and that's lot these days. It's just so much easier to make specific shapes with SYSTEM, with all the curved slopes and SNOT bricks and things; Bionicle parts tend to be more flow-oriented, it's more about layout and composition; sort of ready-made art, remix of some very odd things. It's not easy and it's very interesting, but I sometimes feel I'm losing the touch.

This also re-uses plenty of old tricks. The legs are inherited from Cyira the Paladin, thematically similar but more primitive creation. The new shin and knee armoring, save the shining 3x3 dishes, was done years ago, and they were stored in one of the random WIP boxes. The thighs were silver at the beginning, old stuff too, but I replaced them with black ones of the same design when the colour scheme started to feel too silvery dull like Christmas dinner in Cybermen factory. The inner upper legs are dark blue as I only had three black visorak feet (surprising) but it's not too bad, giving that there are some medium azure at the upper torso. I wanted to keep to colour splash rather local. On other areas the silver and black hopefully balance each other out.

As the legs were of old design, and partially old build, the torso was the part to define the build. I wanted somewhat but not too realistic armour. There is the lower torso, where Stormer XL armour add-on covers the hip area; dynamic and good piece. The abdomen is covered of more flexible-looking armour. The combination of parts built around Travis brick above it it few months old but didn't find use before this. Another one was used in the helm. A pair of silver eagle wings was natural choice for the chest plate. These pieces are pleasantly curved and easy to use; I'd like to see those in various colours. The middle torso is four studs wide, which produced some challenges with Bionicle pieces, and therefore the back is plated with silver curved slopes. My creation's backs sometimes suffer from lack of interest, but this one has quite a developed one. The medium azure beast jaws complete the torso. They were a stud lower at first, but that caused too steep angle, with looked somewhat disappointed. It didn't have the attitude.

Arms are somewhat boring, as they use to be. The longest traditional CCBS shell is used there, might be good, might be bad, but at least it destroys the movement of the wrist (They were the only silver CCBS shells left. I need to re-stock when I get to Pii Poo). The 3x3x3 cones on the upper arms were a late addition, replacing some 2x2 round bricks; that cone is one of my favourite parts, it's dimensions are simply pleasant.

The idea of the head stayed quite similar through the build. Basic "modern" stylish female head with black hair and some sort of appropriate headress. It was going to be another Stormer XL add-on at first, but it was quite large and replaced by the aforementioned construction built around a Travis brick. KK2 visor on the back gives the helmet some bulk, though it's still far from realistic. The hair is pleasantly wind-swept. The champion also has a polearm, as polearms are effective and useful weapons. Those boat studs fall of a lot, but hey, you got to have boat studs somewhere.

-Eero







2017-11-19

MOC: Ideal Christmas Tree


Eurobricks has a long (well, not long, but eight years at least with some gaps) tradition of Advent Calendar Raffles. I've taken part every year available and won something every time, too - usually a bunch of minifigs, and not cheap ones. It's such cool, especially as chances of winning tends to be something like 85%.

This year's theme was Ideal Christmas Tree, which is recycled from 2015. Back then I built a very large spruce, I like very large spruces, there used to be lot of them around my childhood home before the bastards cut them off. But the tree was green, which means that the weathers have been too warm for a while and all the snow has become too heavy and fell of. Reason behind this was of course buying lot of green baby bows from LEGO store in London or Glasgow or elsewhere London last summer (last summer back then, not last summer now, baby bows, despite being fantastic and wonderful and terrific, don't travel in time as far as I know). But as I got some white baby bows from LUGBULK last year, I could make a perfectly snowy tree now, wahoo.

As the quality of the build has nothing to do with the chances of winning, these raffle entries have usually been very fast builds and somehow not worth posting here or Flickr. But today, by incident, there happened to be this charity campaign about Christmas decoration MOCs. British Charity group FairyBricks got their hospital giveaway LEGO stolen by scoundrels who also crippled their van. TLG came to aid, and promised to donate a set for every decoration MOC posted on social media with hashtag #BuildToGive. Now I hope Flickr counts as a social media, as I don't have Facebook or Twitter account.

This was, of course, a fast build, but I sort of like it. I still have several bigger projects under construction. And hey, white snake as a trail of smoke is not my original idea. But it's used quite widely and I have no idea who came up with it first.

-Eero
12th of November 2015. Even a small car. And ugly studded snow.

2017-11-12

Thrugont Thunderthroat's Mechanical Dragon

 This is a surprise build, and it was one for me, too. A friend asked if I was interested in taking part in a Brikwars game, and I was naturally in. So I needed an army. I first tried to make a very odd one mixing some Atlastis monsters with Pirates gear, but as my pirate figure things seemed to be unavailable by being located in another part of the country, I went with dwarves, the little hairy people, very easy to identify with.

I have plenty of dwarf minifigs. I have several of those Fantasy era sets, couple of Battle Packs and some Bricklinked stuff. I have 50 Dain II Ironfoot torsos from LUGBLK. But I wanted some heavy gear, some hardware, to mess up with. The first idea was an assault wagon with maybe some artillery and a dragon's head on the helm, maybe some TECHIC threads to roll on, but hell, I though, why not a whole mechanical dragon. So I made one.

I wanted to make it something between European and Asian folklore dragons. Some legs, but not very long ones, and no wings; Ninjago Movie's Green Ninja Mech Dragon was one source of inspiration, as well as Glaurung the Golden, the first dragon on Middle-Earth. Finnish folk epic Kalevala also offered some ideas with Smith Ilmarinen's Brass Eagle built to catch the great Scale-Pike.

Otherwise there was lot of improvisation. I began with the head and the horn crown. CCBS armor add-ons were on the cheeks from the beginning, as well as the macaroni pipe exhaust moustache. Those pearl dark grey pipes were one of the main elements here - they are delightful pieces and look great alongside brighter pearl gold. The eyes were different in the version used in the game, but I redesigned them to be round to look, hmm, somehow friendlier. There is a light brick on the mouth, to illustrate the flamethrower that burned down lot of cavalry. On the version used in the game there were another one for they eyes, but I removed it to fit in the more essential stuff.

The neck is pretty basic CCBS, and strong enough the keep the head up. It's connected to a torso with brick-built swivel joint to enhance poseability. The torso and the cockpit grew around two dark brown train side parts, whatever they are called, and two car hood pieces in same colour. Pilot Thrugont Thunderthroat can see all around under the trans-clear bubble windshield, or would if he could turn his head without the hair and beard blocking the vision. Some Bionicle generation II pieces add some mechanical matter to the sides. There is also a waist joint, an important technical bit - as the back part is modulary connected, I was able to abandon it to make quick escape from pirate ship/sea serpent combination about to explode very soon and also killed my nemesis Majisto the Wizard on the go.

The tail is also rather basic CCBS but at least it has a giant machine gun in the tip. I have had that gun lying around for years - it was originally used in very strange Kongu Mahri Revamp back in 2013; four years ago. Seems longer. I never used the machine gun in the war; the flamethrower felt more effective.

The legs are boring, I know, but they are still sort of what I wanted, small limbs on rather serpentine body. I didn't have small armour shells to cover the lower parts, but I quite like them that way, reminding of a lizard or one of those ancient, crocodile-like land beasts from Triassic period.

Game shots below taken by Matoro TBS who also hosted the game. No winner was announced, The Blue Danger was released and spread terror around His World.

-Eero





The Blue Danger standing on a brick of Finnish tobacco.

Mass of your author and artist getting ready for the cavalry charge.